Still Having Fun Makes the Grade in Woody Stephens
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Photo: Rick Samuels
Still Having Fun captures the Woody Stephens at Belmont Park
Taking advantage of the sizzling pace set by Promises Fulfilled, Still Having Fun made sure trainer Tim Keefe did just that on Belmont Stakes day, earning the veteran trainer his first graded stakes victory with a 1 1/4-length win in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun (G2) June 9 at Belmont Park.
Breaking from post 6 under Joel Rosario, Still Having Fun slipped into the two-path and raced a dozen or more lengths off a sizzling pace in the early going. As second choice Promises Fulfilled flew through early fractions of :21.46 and :43.68 through a half-mile, Rosario was unhurried as the field headed into the far turn. Favorite World of Trouble moved within a head of Promises Fulfilled, and a front-end duel ensued.
Moving outside into the three-path, then wider still, Rosario circled the field as the two frontrunners battled, and as they hit the eighth pole, Still Having Fun kicked into gear, getting his head in front at the sixteenth pole and drawing off for his fourth win in eight starts and first in a graded stakes race.
Keefe came into the race with 498 career wins and admitted he'd hoped his first graded stakes win would be his 500th. But, he added with a grin, "I'll take it."
Despite how far back Still Having Fun was, Keefe was relatively unconcerned, knowing the running style of the 3-year-old Old Fashioned Maryland-bred.
"I talked to Joel, and I told him he was going to be back," Keefe said. "He's a closing sprinter with a great closing kick. 'Don't leave him too much to do,' I said, 'but don't be too impatient, and he'll come running.'
"I felt like they were going in slow motion, then I looked up and saw that they went in :21 and change."
"He was a little far back," Rosario said, "but I was just waiting until we were turning for home to set him down and ride him. By the eighth pole, I knew I had it. He has such a big stride."
Engage finished second, with Promises Fulfilled holding on for third, 3 1/4 lengths behind the runner-up. Sent off at odds of 13-1, Still Having Fun paid $28.
Morning-line favorite Kanthaka was scratched.
Still Having Fun is owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, and Terp Racing; Terp Racing bought him for $12,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall yearling sale, and Wachtel and Barber later bought interests in the horse.
He is the second foal out of the Dehere mare Casual Kiss.
"Jimmy (Scott of Terp Racing) gave me some money to go to Timonium and buy a horse, like he does every year," Keefe said. "I bought this one, and he's fulfilled our wildest dreams. I'm thankful for Gary and Adam for buying into him and keeping him with me, and for Jimmy Scott for supporting me over the years."